


The Missing Piece of a Puzzle

by Dionte



Series: Chosen Week 2019 [2]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Mostly Gen, Post-Game(s), Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 08:44:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17362766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: Much to Zelos’s surprise, it wasn’t him who invited the lovely little angel to spend the night when she was visiting Meltokio. It was Seles.For Chosen Week 2019, Day 2: Sleepover.





	The Missing Piece of a Puzzle

Here he was, having lunch after Colette’s first service for the Church of Meltokio with her and his little sister. And as he idly picked at his meal, Zelos wondered when this had become a normal thought.

 

“So, I assume your first official recitation as the Chosen of Regeneration went well?” Seles began.

 

“Ah, yes. I think so at least. Everyone kinda swarmed at the end, but Zelos saved me.”

 

Seles glanced to him, and he gave a shrug. Some sleaze had been asking her invasive personal questions.

 

“I see.”

 

And so far the meal was going splendidly. Really. Granted, it wasn’t Seles’s fault that she was so standoffish. Years being confined in an abbey because of your brother could do that, he was sure.

 

“And when I asked Colette if she wanted a meal afterwards, she said I should make sure to invite you.”

 

Well, that seemed to get Seles’s attention. She stared for a moment. Turned her attention to Colette, then back down to the food.

 

“I see.”

 

“I’m sorry, were you busy?”

 

Seles shook her head, “no. I’m just… A bit surprised. Why did you think to invite me?”

 

“Oh, well, I wanted to meet you more formally, I guess? We didn’t really have a good introduction during the journey of regeneration, and Zelos has been talking about you a lot, and I think he’s been a little worried about you. Um, with your health, and making friends, and such.”

 

Seles was glaring at him, though her heart didn’t seem to be in it.

 

“Ah, not to say I wanted to eat with you because of him, I just thought I’d like to make more friends, and I wanted to talk to you, so um, well… I’m sorry!”

 

“Why are you apologizing?” Seles asked with a raised brow.

 

“Uh, um? I’m not sure?”

 

“Then there’s no need to. Rather, I appreciate your efforts.”

 

Colette’s face flushed and she got an adorably dorky smile on her face. Zelos covered his own grin with a hand.

 

“So. Colette,” Seles began.

 

Colette tilted her head to show she was listening.

 

“Y-you could, uh. Spend the night at the manor.”

 

Now that. That stopped Zelos in his tracks. Seles had a light blush, and he could tell how much it took for her to say that. He felt… Proud. But now Colette and Seles had their stares on him and he wasn’t really sure why.

 

No. Wait. Right.

 

“If you so desire, little angel. We have plenty of space.”

 

“I’d love to!” Colette beamed and turned to Seles, who shrank in on herself.

 

“O-oh. Great.”

 

Colette had that bright smile on her face, and once they’d finished eating Colette and Seles took of for a shopping spree. Apparently Seles had wanted to do so with a female friend for some time, so while the girls were shopping, Zelos headed to his manor to give Sebastian a friendly heads-up on their guest.

 

“Yo, Sebastian, my man, my butler. Can we expand the dinner menu to serve three tonight? With some special fruit tarts for dessert?”

 

“Shall I assume we have a guest tonight? If I may be so bold, I have noticed less since Mistress Seles took up residence.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. You know her, my darling Colette is in town for a visit.”

 

“Hence the fruit tart, I see.”

 

“Yup. Bingo.”

 

“And where are Mistresses Seles and Colette now?”

 

“Oh, they’re out shopping. Not sure for what, but hey, it’s nice to see them doing normal things for once.”

 

“I’m sure it is, Master Zelos.”

 

With those words, Zelos joined Sebastian in the kitchen as the butler began to prepare the evening meal. It was nice, being able to be more lax with the food prep. Didn’t have to check the food for poison all the time now, though that would change if another poison scare happened.

 

The sun was still above the horizon when he heard a knock on the door, and opened it to admit the girls with rather modest bags of clothing, probably.

 

“We’re back, brother.”

 

“Um, hello Zelos!”

 

“Sebastian’s in the kitchen still, so I’m here to assist you ladies in putting away your items. How may I assist?”

 

Seles rolled her eyes. “Tokunaga, come help me!”

 

Oh right. Seles’s butler. He kept forgetting that dude.

 

“Yes, Miss Seles?”

 

“Please assist us in taking these items to my room.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Tokunaga rushed to help them, so Zelos pouted and returned to the kitchen. Sometimes hired help took all the fun out of pretending to be a gentleman.

 

“Master Zelos, the food is ready. If you are feeling useless, you can help me transport it to the table.”

 

Zelos glared, even as he grabbed one of the plates. “So you heard that, huh?”

 

“I’ve served you long enough to know that without hearing it.”

 

Butlers.

 

He sat at the table as soon as the food was down, and Sebastian went to fetch Seles and Colette.

 

“You didn’t start eating without us, did you brother?”

 

“Of course not! I am offended and appalled by the mere notion.”

 

He heard Colette chuckle and looked up. Seles’s face was bright red, and Colette was bent over, attempting to hold in her laughter.

 

“I- I’m so sorry. It’s just, you two are so funny sometimes.”

 

Zelos felt his own face turn red.

 

“Well, you better hurry to the table before I do start eating.”

 

They did, though Colette was still occasionally chuckling. When those giggles died down, the table lapsed into an awkward silence that Zelos wasn’t sure how to break.

 

“Oh, right. Seles, didn’t you want to talk to Zelos about something?”

 

Seles looked at Colette blankly for a moment, before turning to him.

 

“Right. Um, brother, would you mind inviting, uh, Sir Irving the next time he’s in town?”

 

Zelos choked on his drink, and the giggles started back up at the table. This time it was both him and Colette, because Sir Irving? That didn’t match Lloyd’s image at all.

 

Then he realized what Seles was asking and calmed down. “Wait, why do you wanna talk to Lloyd?”

 

“I want to get rid of my exsphere.”

 

Zelos was speechless. He hadn’t seen this coming at all.

 

“I’ve been considering it for a while. I got it because I thought if I was strong, you’d acknowledge me. But uh, I never actually need that, right?” Zelos didn’t have a moment to reply before Seles continued. “Colette said if I wanted to live a normal life, without an exsphere, everyone would- or at least you two- would always be there for me.”

 

The table was silent. “Four,” Zelos finally said.

 

Seles looked up, question on her face.

 

“Tokunaga and Sebastian too. Though I’m sure the rest of our friends would jump on the bandwagon as well.” Zelos sighed. “If it’s your decision, I won’t argue with it. I am worried, because you got sick so often when you were a kid, but, yeah. I’ll talk to Lloyd about it.”

 

“Thanks, brother.”

 

“But enough with this serious talk. This is supposed to be fun, y’know? What do you want to do that’s, I dunno, less weighty?”

 

“Oh, oh! Is this like, a sleepover then?”

 

Zelos and Seles glanced at each other. “Sleepover?”

 

“Yeah, where friends um, hang out and have fun overnight.”

 

Well, by that description Zelos had many sleepovers, but he was guessing Colette meant something more innocuous.

 

“Sure, uh, that sounds good.”

 

“I just had my first sleepover during the journey. It was…” Colette froze. Her face turned red. “It was nice.”

 

“Can you teach me to braid hair?” Seles blurted out, probably wanting to ease Colette’s embarrassment. Granted, if Colette was thinking that one he’d walked in on, then yeah. Fair.

 

“S-sure! Oh, we could have a braid chain. I’ll braid Zelos’s, and you can braid mine!”

 

Wait, what, why was he getting involved?

 

Colette was smiling at him, and Seles looked almost excited. Well. “Sounds like a great idea!”

 

And that was how he ended up sitting to the side of the couch, as Colette showed the process to his sister. It was… Nice. He just listened to them talking, interjecting on occasion, and felt content. Which was strange, because he wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt content before.

 

After they finished braiding, they decided to show off the outfits they’d bought earlier, and put on a fashion show for him. He clapped and praised, then forced Sebastian and Tokunaga to give their opinions as well.

 

When they were done, the sky was dark and the girls were yawning, so he insisted they head to bed. He wanted to have a nightcap, and absconded to the kitchen with Sebastian.

 

“Well, Master Zelos, I believe I have never seen you so happy.”

 

Zelos swirled the whiskey in his glass, thinking. “It’s nice. Seeing them just… having fun together.”

 

Sebastian gave a smile and backed away. Zelos was about to ask why when he saw the reason as he turned. Colette was there in the doorway, wearing her new yellow pajamas. She made her way over and sat on the bar stool next to him.

 

“W-whatcha doin’ angel?” World class womanizer here. Yup. He was losing his touch.

 

“Thought I’d hang out with you. Seles fell asleep really quick.”

 

“I see.”

 

They stayed quiet for a while, Zelos not knowing what to say, and Colette not speaking. Eventually, she leaned over on Zelos’s shoulder with a sight. “Seles is nice. I can see why you worry over her. She worries about you a lot too though.”

 

“S-she does, huh?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Zelos wasn’t able to find words for quite some time after that, so they just sat there, quiet. When Zelos finished his drink, he finally decided to speak.

 

“Is my shoulder really that comfortable?”

 

She didn’t respond. He twisted to look at her and huffed a laugh.

 

“I guess it is.”

 

She was asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you're here for the Fatherly Sebastian vibes and Colette & Seles friendship. Because that's my jam. And yeah, okay, I snuck in a reference to one of my own fics. And probably the one I am the least satisfied with. But hey it happens.


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